Poetic Devices

Poetic Devices

1. Alliteration- The repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds at the beginning of words. Ex: She sells sea shells by the sea shore.

2. Assonance- The repetition of the same or similar vowel sounds. Ex: The blue moon rose too soon.

3. Enjambment- The continuation of a sentence from one line to the next line. When you are reading poetry, do not stop at the end of a line. Read through until you hit punctuation that tells you to stop. Ex: “The setting sun/ slithers into the sea.”

4. Hyperbole- An overstatement which is a type of figurative language. Ex: “I’ve been waiting forever.”

5. Imagery- appeals to your senses. It offers you a verbal snapshot. Ex: “She could smell the moist, fresh grass.”

6. Metaphor- A metaphor is a comparison of two unlike objects. Ex: “He is a dirty rat.”

7. Simile- Similar to a metaphor, a simile is a comparison of two unlike objects. The difference is a simile uses the words “like” or “as”. Ex: “He is as dirty as a rat”.

8. Onomatopoeia- Words that are used to imitate sounds. Ex: Buzz, knock sizzle, crack, hum, pop, etc.

9. Personification- Giving human traits to nonhuman things. Ex: “The engine coughed”.

10. Rhyme- The occurrence of the same or similar sounds at the end of two or more words. Ex: Bat, rat, fat, cat, mat, sat, etc.

11. Rhythm- The flow or syncopation of the sounds. Rhythm can be though of as the beat or what gives the words their movement.

12. Stanza- Two or more lines of poetry that form the divisions of a poem. You can think about this as a paragraph in poetry. If you are looking at song lyrics, each verse would represent a stanza.